Over & Under: Most Overrated & Underrated Liquid Eyeliner

There are always products that receive endless raves, but they don’t always live up to our expectations or work out as well as they do for others. Share your picks for most overrated and underrated LIQUID EYELINERS. Don’t forget to share your whats and whys as to your choices!

Most Overrated: [answer]

Most Underrated: [answer]

My Picks

Most Overrated: MAC Boot Black — I was always a much bigger fan of their Liquidlasts (now discontinued) over their regular liquid eyeliner.

Most Underrated: MUFE or Stila’s new eyeliners; I like the shade ranges, and I really like the applicator on MUFE’s.

38 Comments

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Most Overrated: Lancome Artliner. So expensive and some colors are so sheer. If you like the applicator, L’Oreal Carbon Intense eyeliner is identical, cheaper and much more black
Most Underrated: UD liquid eyeliner. The colors are gorgeous and I really like the applicator

[email protected]@Catherine The lancome one is very similar to the L’Oreal one in terms of applicators but it is soooo sheer (especially the blue one). I can’t get enough of UD eyeliner, i loooovee how they stay put all day. You should try the color sabbath, matte navy blue. It looks almost black from far but to me it is just a little twist on black eyeliner.

[email protected]@Catherine Ah at first I loved the L’Oreal one because I love art liner. But over time I found that the loreal one actually flakes off right after I apply it. So disappointing! Ugh! And its like really shimmery… I got the black one, not the black mica one I don’t think. It’s awful!

Most Overrated: I agree with Catherine about Lancome Artliner. L’Oreal Carbon Black Lineur Intense is seriously the exact same, but better, because it’s much richer in pigment.

Most Underrated: UD 24/7 Liquid Liner. They are pigmented and I love the fine brush applicator. I wish for more colors! Also, when it was around, MAC’s Liquidlast Liners were way underrated. The color selection was amazing, and again, it had a fine applicator. In addition, the thick consistency led to amazing opaque color. They longevity of wear was amazing, too. They should totally bring those back rather than peddling some of the total and utter crap they have come out with in the past years. Although, I’m sure if they brought it back, they’d fuck it up somehow. LOL.

Overrated: I am a liquid eyeliner afficianado, so I pretty much can’t think of one that I’ve tried that didn’t perform well, unless you count the off-brands I tried way back when I started wearing makeup. I also tend to stick with black, so I can’t opine about “colored” liners. In terms of mainstream brands, the only one I ever had an issue with is the LORAC pen liner (the name escapes me ATM), but not because of the formula (which is amazing), but because *every* time I go to use it, I have to wipe off the barrel, and if I’m not careful, I end up with a black, inky mess. That being said, I haven’t seen or heard it mentioned, so I don’t know if I would say it’s “overrated”.

Underrated: Okay, I have a few on *this* list. Although I love nearly every liquid liner on the market nowadays, there are three that just don’t get enough mention, if *any*. First, L’Oreal Lineur Intense Carbon Black. It’s inexpensive (especially if you catch a sale and/or coupon), and easily available. It doesn’t fade, or more importantly, it doesn’t flake, and the color is very intense. The applicator is also ideal. The second on my list (again, never mentioned), is Stargazer. I have only tried this in red, but it applies smoothly and evenly, is opaque on first swipe, and doesn’t “fold” on itself when a second coat may be necessary. Again, really cheap, and it doesn’t flake. The third is, UD 24/7 Waterproof Liquid Eyeliner. This has become my new HG. I would have never bought this on its own (as the pencils don’t work for me, and I have others I really like), but it came with my BoS IV, and had been sitting there, untouched, for months. Two weeks ago, I decided to bring this one with me when I went to Disneyland, figuring if I lost it, no big deal-my faves are at home. Well, after about 12 hours in 85 degree weather, multiple runs on Splash Mountain & Pirates of the Caribbean, my eyeliner looked as good as it did when first applied. My mascara was a bit smudged, and my eyeshadow was slightly faded & blurred, but the liner was *perfect*. I was wary of the “waterproof” label, but I have to say this truly is.

[email protected] I have the L’Oreal Lineur Intense eyeliner (in regular Black, not Carbon) and I agree that it’s very good. I prefer the applicator brush of the N.Y.C black liquid liner because it’s thinner in width and I can get a less intrusive line. Plus, that one *never* globs or becomes thick which does sometimes happen to me with the L’Oreal. However, the N.Y.C. colour isn’t anywhere as intense as the L’Oreal.

[email protected] Aside from the marker liner from Tokidoki, the UD 24/7s were the first liquid liner I ever used, and I don’t see myself buying any others. I’m slowly building up a collection. Like you, I wouldn’t have bought the black on its own because I’m not a big black liner wearer, but it is my favorite black liner, period.

The colors are quite good, I’ve got Siren, Bobby Dazzle, and just bought Radium last week and I love ’em. The only one I don’t see myself ever grabbing is the darkest blue one, whose name escapes me, just because it’s too close to black for me to need it.

While I hate disagreeing with Christine, I must say I found the Stila Liquid Liners to be a big disappointment. It bled on me noticably and the tip was completely flimsy at the end which got in the way. Maybe I just got a bad one but I was seriously underwhelmed.
Underrated for me is the Milani Eye Tech Liquid Eye Liner. I love that it’s smaller so I have more control with it and no bleeding. Wonderful!

Over: UD 24/7 Liquid Liner. It stays on very well, but I hate the applicator and the “plastic-y” finish. (I’ve only used Perversion, so the finish may be more to my liking on other colors, but I generally don’t use wacky liner colors).
Under: Sephora brand liquid liner. I love the applicator (a sponge, like MUFE), along with the color selection and price ($12!). They aren’t waterproof, I think, but I’ve never had issues with wear time or smudging.

I like how black the Sephora liquid liner is and i love how it dries super matte! It’s one of the blackest liners I own. However, one problem I have with liquid liners is that it catches onto my lashes and transfers onto my lid or under my eye. Also, I think it makes my eyes water and it’s not waterproof either so it kind of is a disaster for me. I’ve changed to use gel liner for my eye liner and then use a liquid liner for my wing cause that stays a lot better on me. I’ve tried to resort to the Sephora liquid liner for my wing because it’s so black but my watery eyes make it smudge like CRAZY and it turns into a blueish black color and looks bad.. Ah if people don’t have a problem with watery eyes and don’t mind smudging then they should try it!

Over-rated: no clue, as I haven’t tried a ton of diff. brands and have bought very few super expensive ones.

Under-rated: the E.L.F. waterproof liquid pens. Yes, I said ELF. I have 2 (teal and dark purple) that I just tossed into my basket during a BOGO sale when trying out ELF for the first time because $1 + cheapskate me= had to try. My GOD, do those stay on! Zero fading and the intensity of the colour never ceases to amaze me. I’ve worn them side-by-side with my UD 24/7 (non-liquid) pencils and the ELF ones have lasted the exact same amount of time. (In fact, it takes as much work to get the last traces of it off when removing my makeup as it does the UD pencils.) I really like the super thin pen tip which lets me be very precise. But the colours! The intensity! The lack of fading! It was a jaw-dropping surprise. I hear they dry up but *all* liquid pens do in time. And, thus far, it’s been several months and they still work. (I keep them in a down direction which probably helps). Basically, for 50 cents each or $1 regular price, it’s worth it even if they just last 5 months.

[email protected] E.L.F. liquid liners don’t even apply properly, they bunch up around the edges of the line and don’t stay in the middle at all, it’s like wiping dry erase marker off of a board using another dry erase marker.

@Lisa, I’ve never had an application problem. And I’m not sure what you mean when you say they don’t stay in the middle at all. Perhaps you are drawing thick lines like for cat eyes? I’m not and when I use them, they create a fluid line, easily.

[email protected] just looked at the ELF website and the ones I tried were the e.l.f. Essential Liquid Eyeliner, not the pens, so perhaps the formula is different.

The line the liquid eyeliners create is like what would happen if you dragged your finger through a pile of paint, clay, mud etc. – bunched up on the edges of the line, but empty in the middle. Like a trench. Almost two thin lines on either side of the applicator instead of a solid line. I had four of them and they were all the same 🙁

@Lisa – Yikes! That sounds awful. 🙁 I know now what you’re talking about and, thankfully, it hasn’t happened to me. You’re right that the formulations may be different. I haven’t heard anyone raving about ELF’s liquid eyeliners but I have heard some for the pens. The problem with ELF from what I hear seems to be general inconsistency from batch to batch, even within a particular product. Again, I’ve been lucky and I have heard good things about these pens except for the drying out issue (which, thus far, hasn’t happened to me). So, when one can pick up something from Target or the website for 50 cents or $1 and (on me at least), it works as well as my UD 24/7 pencils, I think it’s worth *a try* at least. I mean, 50 cents w/ BOGO!! 50 cents!! LOL Maybe I’m just too much of a bargain-shopper, since I don’t really think liquid eyeliners/pens are worth spending a massive amount of money on in general. 🙂

Underrated: The liquid liner by NYC!! It’s just a couple bucks and I have been loyal to this liner since high school! It is dark, it stays put w/o it being waterproof, it doesn’t bother my sensitive eyelid, and the brush is amazing. I swear I have tried more expensive brands, other drugstore brands, and NOTHING compares.

Overrated – Prestige, heard so many good things but failed me on all fronts. Also Physician’s formula-dried out after two uses.
Underrated – YSL (great for very thin lines), L’Oreal carbon black with the brush, I have to wipe a lil off before use, but it’s still so dark and goes and goes. Lorac Front of the Line Pro. Revlon’s new precision tip lquid liner is awesome but I haven’t seen any of the buzz about it that it deserves…maybe b/c it’s so new?
Also awesome for glasses wearers is the cover girl liner in the tiny grey tube w/ black top.